The USC Trojans, Wisconsin Badgers, and Boise State Broncos (women) were all taking in their holiday training in the newest United State, Hawaii, and as is mandated by NCAA rules, they took in a quad-meet at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex.
The official meet results are labeled as “LC Meter,” though the times indicate that the meet was clearly swum in short course yards. The biggest story was the return of USC’s two European stars, Dimitri Colupaev and Vlad Morozov, who missed the entire fall semester of the season to focus on training for the Short Course World Championships.
Each swimmer had only one individual swim, but the sprint duo showed that they’re recovering well from a European short course season. First, Morozov won the men’s 50 free in 19.67, and then Colupaev won the 100 easily in 44.60 (two full seconds ahead of Hawaii’s Ryan Makuta).
That swim by Morozov ranks him 7th in the country this year mid-season, and as the fastest USC Trojan, and Colupaev’s swim should give USC renewed hope for their 400 free relay, as they were short of a strong fourth leg early in the year.
The USC men’s breaststroke group continues to have trouble (Colupaev may again take up the medley relay leg this season), though Blake Cushing picked up a win in 56.50. Sergio Lujan-Rivera, the presumed front-runner of the group, was just 8th in a 1:00.87.
Other standout swims for the Trojans include Chase Bloch’s win in the 100 fly in 49.31, bettering Hawaii senior Luca Mazzurana in 50.21.
Trojan freshman Morten Klarskov’s also got a win in the 200 IM in 1:50.83. Wisconsin’s Michael Weiss, who also swam at the Short Course World Championships and sat out some (though not all) of the fall semester, put up his first 1000 of the season. He won a good battle with USC’s Cary Wright by margin of 9:14.32-9:18.19. Those are the number-two-and-three fastest times in the distance race in the new year (with Weiss just a hair behind Georgia’s Garrett Powell).
Though Weiss will focus more on the middle-distance races at NCAA’s, like the 400 IM and the 500 free where he has a chance at medaling, this was his first attempt at the 1000 since he was 14 years old. This was a good “training” type of swim for him (though without splits in the official results, we can’t draw too much of a conclusion).
In the women’s meet, the most notable swim individually went to USC’s versatile freshman Jasmine Tosky. She took 2nd-place to teammate Andrea Kropp in the 100 breaststroke, with the two swimming 1:03.79 and 1:03.50 respectively, and also winning the 100 free in 50.25. The runner-up in that 100 free was Boise State sophomore Jessica Bottelberghe in 52.04; that’s a good time for her as she moves into a more focal role in year two with the Broncos.
Tosky’s win in that 100, though, came without the participation of either of Wisconsin’s top sprinters, Ivy and Ruby Martin. The pair stuck to just relay swims here, and we didn’t get splits for the relays, but in total results the Wisconsin women actually knocked off USC’s 400 free relay. That’s not a huge surprise, as it’s the Badgers’ strongest and the Trojans’ weakest event, but head coach Whitney Hite will have to be pleased with his team’s 3:23.70. That’s averaging 50.9 per swimmer: outstanding for this time of year. USC was eight-tenths back in 3:24.54.
There were no team scores available for the meet, though it would seem as though USC would have won, with Wisconsin second.
Full meet results available here.